Remove Nathuram Godse's idol from temple within an hour: Gwalior administration to Hindu Mahasabha

The Gwalior administration on Tuesday gave an hour’s notice to the Hindu Mahasabha to remove an idol of Nathuram Godse from a makeshift temple in their office, according to reports. The organisation had installed the 32-inch metallic statue inside their Gwalior office on his death anniversary on 15 November.

#BREAKING Ultimatum to Hindu Mahasabha over controversial temple, Gwalior administration gives one hour to remove Godse idol from temple. pic.twitter.com/2SNRRR7NuI

— News18 (@CNNnews18) November 21, 2017

ANI had reported that the Mahasabha requested the district administration for a temple dedicated to Godse in the city but their plea was not entertained. The organisation’s vice-president Narayan Sharma told ANI that, “the government refused to give us land for the temple, so we created one on our private land.” [caption id=“attachment_4221013” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Statue of Nathuram Godse installed by Nathuram Godse. News18[/caption] Jaiveer Bharadwaj, Mahasabha’s national vice-president, told Times Now that “nobody should have any objection to this as we have set up the temple in our own space. It is Mahasabha’s own property.” Senior Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha (ABHM) leader Kailash Narayan Sharma told the newspaper that the makeshift temple would be rendered more splendor in days to come. “We want to tell our young generations the true history that Godse was not a killer, but a Hindu nationalist, who eliminated (Mahatma) Gandhiji to protest the slaughter of ten lakh Hindus due to country’s partition in 1947,” he told The New Indian Express. Anger against Mahasabha The Mahasabha’s temple for Godse triggered a demand by the Congress that the organisation should be charged with sedition. “It is an anti-national act, and punitive action should be taken against the perpetrators. We suspect a well-planned conspiracy behind the burning of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Morena on 1 November and the installation of Godse’s statue a fortnight later,” Pradesh Congress chief spokesman KK Mishra was quoted as saying by The Times of India. Congress’ Jyotiraditya Scindia was also critical of the move. “A temple of Bapu’s killer is being established just under the nose of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who pretended to be fasting using the name of Gandhiji. This is a shameful and condemnable act,” he had said. Madhya Pradesh home minister Bhupendra Singh pleaded ignorance and promised to seek a report, News18 reported. The BJP, however said that the Congress should not lay sole claim to Gandhi’s legacy and if the law was violated by Mahasabha, it would be dealt with accordingly, according to Times Now.